Even on a cold morning, tourists heading for a jeep safari to see the wild animals of Chitwan National Park were bustling to the hotel's dining hall for breakfast.

This was the scene on Friday morning at Tigerland Safari Lemonty Resort in Jagatpur, Bharatpur Metropolitan City-23. This resort is near the park headquarters Kasara. There were not many Nepalis among the tourists ready to go on safari.

‘There are 45 tourists in our resort today. Out of these, only four are Nepali,’ said Manager Lok Bahadur Kunwar. Bharatpur-22 Patihani Stone Park is a gathering place for tourists going on boat safaris (Nauka Bihar) on the Rapti River. Many of the tourists who gathered for boat safaris on the Rapti River, which flows through the Chitwan National Park border, were from Hong Kong. It was difficult to find Nepalis there too.

According to the statistics of the Chitwan National Park Office, the number of foreigners visiting the park is number one in the western area of ​​the park, i.e. Kasara, Meghauli and Amaltari area of ​​Nawalparasi (east of Bardaghat Susta). Overall, there are more domestic tourists visiting the park, while there are more foreigners in these areas. 

Tourism entrepreneurs claim that the environment and service level here have attracted foreign tourists. Conservation Officer Abinash Thapa Magar, who is the information officer at the Chitwan National Park Office, informed that a total of 67,735 tourists visited the park in the four months from last Shrawan to Kartik.

The largest number of domestic tourists is 39,698. During this period, 24,692 foreign tourists have visited the park. Similarly, 12,917 have visited from the SAARC region. There are various sectors of the park where tourists enter. 

Domestic tourists rather than foreigners have visited the park from Sauraha in the eastern region, where the most tourists enter. Information officer Abinash Thapa Magar informed that 60,073 tourists have entered the park from Sauraha in the last four months. Of which, 37,392 are locals, 19,712 are foreigners and 2,969 are from the SAARC region.

This park data shows that 94 percent of the locals visiting Chitwan National Park entered from Sauraha. The number of Nepalis entering the park from other sectors is low. A total of 4,605 ​​tourists visited the park from the Kasara sector in the last four months, with the highest number of 2,859 foreigners. The Kasara sector includes Patihani and Jagatpur.

A total of 2,261 tourists visited the park from the Meghauli sector, with the highest number of 1,468 foreigners visiting the park from here. A total of 660 tourists entered the park from Amaltari, another important sector in the western region, in the last four months, including 557 foreigners. The park has stated that tourists also visit community forests in these areas and their number is not included in this.

The number of tourist hotels added to the western area of ​​the park, Patihani, Meghauli and Amaltari, has increased. Hotel Narayani Safari has been in operation in Ghatgai of Patihani since 2044 BS. Nepal's first jungle lodge, the world-famous Tiger Tops, opened in the Meghauli area in 2022 BS, eight years older than the park. 

Temple Tiger Hotel was also opened in the Amaltari area. Later, when it was not possible to operate hotels inside the park, some came out. Other hotels were also added outside the park. 'This area was already known abroad. Later, other hotels were also added here. Because those hotels also took care of the quality of service and facilities, many foreign tourists come to visit this area even today,' said Ganesh Poudel, who runs the Jungle Villa Resort on the border of Patihani and Jagatpur. 

When Poudel opened the resort 13 years ago, there were only three hotels here. Now there are eight large and quality tourist hotels in the Kasara area. Poudel, who is also the treasurer of the Kasara Tourism Entrepreneurs Committee, says, "Both foreigners and locals who prefer a natural and peaceful environment come here." He said that hotels located away from the village and the road, along the forest and river, are the choice of tourists.

"There are not many hotels here. There is another hotel every five hundred meters to one kilometer. That is why the environment is peaceful," Poudel said. Teknath Timilsina, the administrative officer of the old Hotel Narayani Safari in this area, says that more than 90 percent of the people who come to stay at his hotel are foreigners. He said that many Europeans also come among the foreigners.

Choplal Pandey, vice-chairman of the Kasara Tourism Entrepreneurs Committee, says that the hotel resorts in this area have their own jeeps, boats and nature guides for safaris, so they are able to provide good service for food, accommodation and sightseeing. "The environment here is wonderful. We are committed to satisfying our guests with our service.  "Many quality tourists come here because of the preference of people who come to visit or travel agencies," he said. 

The impact of the global corona pandemic that hit six years ago before the earthquake could be overcome is still being felt in the tourism sector. Narayani Safari officer Teknath Timilsina says that the rate of tourist arrivals has dropped significantly. Bookings were canceled in droves after the Gen G movement. "However, the love of foreign tourists towards this place remains. That is why we are optimistic," Timilsina said.

Choplal Pandey, vice-chairman of the Kasara Tourism Entrepreneurs' Committee, said that marketing is taking place abroad due to the increase in investment by domestic or foreign good brand hotels in this area. "Foreigners have come. Events from the corporate sector as well as domestic travelers are held here," said manager Lok Bahadur Kunwar. Tourism entrepreneurs believe that everyone should come together to preserve the uniqueness of this place.

Bharatpur Metropolitan City-22 Kawada Chairman Bishnu Raj Mahato says that foreign tourists come here because they think that when they stay at a hotel in the western area, they can easily see animals and the environment is peaceful. ‘But now it seems that it will be difficult to maintain this environment. Weddings and other programs have also started taking place. Which will affect both the settlement and the environment,’ he said.